1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for making an improved expanded snack food and, more particularly, to a method for making a expanded or puffed extrudate having high nutritional content remaining from fruit or vegetable input ingredients, novel shapes, and texture characteristics.
2. Description of Related Art
Puffed snack food products are popular consumer items for which there exists a great demand. Snacks can also play a large role in the diet of consumers, and consumer demand for healthy snacks has dramatically increased.
Fruits and non-starchy vegetables are generally good sources of vitamins, minerals and other healthy compounds such as anti-oxidants. Different fruits and vegetables are rich in different nutrients, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends consumption of between 5 and 13 servings of a variety of fruit and vegetables per day, depending on the specific individual's needs. According to the Food and Drug Administration, a diet that is high in fiber can reduce a person's risk of certain cancers, diabetes, digestive disorders, and heart diseases, as well as aid weight management. Furthermore, vitamins and minerals are widely recognized as part of a healthy diet, and antioxidants may reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer.
A healthy, nutritious snack should ideally meet several criteria that include limits on fat, including saturated and trans-fatty acids, cholesterol, sodium, and added sugar. Preferably, the criteria should also include products formulated to have specific health or wellness benefits.
Although fruits and vegetables can be consumed raw or cooked in their natural form, some people find that consuming whole fruits and vegetables as a snack to be impractical, inconvenient, and generally undesirable. Prior art dried fruit and vegetable snack foods generally take the form of dehydrated slices of whole fruits or vegetables. These prior art dehydrated slices typically do not have the light, crispy texture desired by consumers, nor do they retain the native nutrients and flavors present in the starting ingredients. Other types of fruit or vegetable snacks in the prior art have included trivial or insubstantial amounts of fruit or vegetables, thus they are not nutritionally different from traditional potato chips. No prior art snack food has been able to deliver high levels of fruits or vegetables, along with the additional hallmarks of nutritious snacks listed above, in the form of a light, crispy snack product.
Prior art direct expanded products, such as snacks produced and marketed under the Cheetos® brand label, are typically made by extruding corn meal and/or other raw materials through a die having a small orifice at high temperature and pressure. The water vapor pressure in the hot extrudate causes expansion, or puffing of the extrudate as it exits the small orifice. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,772, assigned to the same assignee of the present invention, the typical ingredients for the starting raw material consists of corn meal and water. High temperature/high pressure extrusion is not ideal for use with fruit and vegetable content, for reasons described in the detailed description below.